Rumman Chowdhury talks future of AI, being a woman of color in tech
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Rumman Chowdhury, a prominent figure in the artificial intelligence industry, shared her insights into how the development of AI can morally contribute to society in a Wednesday evening lecture at Goldstein Auditorium.
Instead of seeing it as a tool of replacement, Chowdhury said she sees AI as a resource to grow curiosity and knowledge. She also described her experiences as a woman of color working in the tech industry — a field historically dominated by white men — at the lecture, which was hosted by the Office of Academic Affairs.
“It was my job to create applied solutions in these fields, so instead of replacing people, (AI) can just retain information really quickly and understand abstract pieces of information and issues,” Chowdhury said.
After obtaining bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees, she transitioned from her political science and sociology background to the world of technology when she was offered an analytical scientist position at Quotient Technology. She felt data analytics also applied to the humanities, another field she was passionate about.
“I like building things and solving problems but, in a way, that is a belief centering human beings,” Chowdhury said. “There was a lot of academic work and a lot of really smart people are thinking about that problem … it scratched every itch.”
Nearly four years after her first job in artificial intelligence at Accenture AI, Chowdhury joined Parity Consulting as a project manager. Shortly after, she joined Meta as the director of ethics, transparency and accountability. She later served as the advisor for Creative Destruction Lab, founded her own non-profit and was a visiting fellow at Harvard University.
Chowdhury is now the co-founder and chief executive officer at Humane Intelligence — a non-profit that reviews new AI models with a focus on “safety, ethics, and subject-specific expertise,” according to its website.
At Wednesday’s event, Chowdhury described her experience “breaking barriers” as a woman of color in the technology industry, joking that she had hit the glass ceiling so hard she had gotten whiplash. Chowdhury, who has been in the field since 2016, shared pieces of advice for women of color looking to take a similar route.
Chowdhury speaks for a crowd of SU community members in Goldstein Auditorium during Wednesday’s guest lecture. Chowdhury shared her perspective on the development of AI and her experience working in tech as a woman of color.
Brycen Pace | Staff Photographer
“Never be in an environment that disrespects you,” she said. “Anybody who is in a non-majority group has lived life accommodating things that were not built for them, whether it’s institutions, other people. Unless you are an able-bodied white man, the world was not made for you.”
Chowdhury said trusting her institution and making sure she’s respected in the workplace has guided her throughout her career. She said she has lowered her “trigger for stepping back” from projects and experiences, something she has never regretted.
Several SU student and faculty attendees said they were already involved with the world of AI and were excited to listen to Chowdhury’s lecture regarding the future of humanity concerning generative AI.
One attendee, first-year data analytics student Kyle Tasker, said he decided to attend the event after hearing about it from a family member. He said he thought Chowdhury’s experience would be relevant to his coursework as a student of SU’s School of Information Studies.
“I’m hoping to get a better general understanding of AI and how it’s used in ethics,” Tasker said. “I’m currently doing AI research here at Syracuse, and currently we are attempting to make a bot and making it as ethical as possible.”
Aaron Benanav, a faculty member of the Autonomous Systems Policy Institute at SU, said ASPI helped organize Wednesday’s event and that he was “excited to hear what (Chowdhury) has to say about automation and the future of AI.”
“It’s the topic that I write about so I’m curious to hear about her perspective on how generative AI is going to change work, society and the future,” he said.
ASPI is an initiative within Maxwell that intends to emphasize and evaluate the relationships between “technology, society and policy,” according to its website. The institute co-organized the event alongside SU’s Office of Academic Operations. ASPI’s next slated event will host author Debbie Urbanski — a science fiction author who has written about the potential outcomes of AI.
“The revolution we are seeing is the accessibility of these tools that before we needed specialized knowledge … for,” Chowdhury said.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that the lecture was hosted by Maxwell. This was incorrect. The lecture was a university event hosted by the Office of Academic Affairs. The Daily Orange regrets this error.
